Electrical connectors with press-fit contact pins are commonly used for assembly with a substrate, such as a printed circuit board. During insertion of the contact pins into corresponding holes of the substrate, a substantial pressure is exerted on the press-fit portion of the pins. It is therefore necessary to mechanically support the press-fit portions of the pins in order to avoid any bending or breaking during the insertion.
In some configurations, a row of press-fit contact pins are placed against a wall of a connector or socket housing. The wall provides mechanical support in the event of pressure being applied onto the press-fit portion. Without the support of the wall, the press-fit portions are in danger of breaking or bending. This is the case, for example, in socket housings used in radar devices in which a press-fit connection must be performed on two rows of four press-fit contact pins; only one row is able to be placed against a wall of the housing, but the other row lacks mechanical support behind the press-fit portions.
To at least partially address this problem, the press-fit contact pins are generally fixed in the electrical connector or in the socket by overmolding methods, making it possible to incorporate the contact pin in the housing of the connector or socket. The overmolding positions plastic material under each of the rows of pins. A pushing effort from the outer wall is thus transmitted to the press-fit contact pins during the insertion into the printed circuit board. Such methods of overmolding, however, are complex and costly. The known overmolding methods include steps of forming the contacts, manipulating the contacts to insert them inside a mold, and the molding. Defects can accumulate in each step of the overmolding method.
Specifically in sockets used for electrical connection in radar applications, in which the socket is connected to a printed circuit board of a radar device, it is known to plate some walls inside the housing of the socket in order to provide the radar with a desired directivity. To do so, methods of vapor-phase deposition of metal particles are commonly used on the walls of the housing. Given that the housing of the socket is manufactured beforehand by overmolding onto the press-fit contact pins, it is imperative to mask every portion of the contact pins which protrudes inside the housing, notably including the press-fit portions, in order to avoid any contamination thereof during the depositing of the metal particles. Given the difficulty of manipulating the interior of the housing of the socket, the complexity and the cost of the masking stage add to the problems of the overmolding method.
It is also known to use a retaining device as an element separate from the socket housing to support the press-fit contact pins. The retaining device consists of a piece overmolded onto the press-fit contact pins, which can be inserted into the socket housing after the vapor-phase deposition step. However, even if it is possible to use the retaining device without the complex and costly step of masking the contact pins during the deposition of the metal particles, the overmolding of the retaining device onto the contact pin remains a complex and costly method. Furthermore, different configurations of the contact pins require different overmolding methods.